Template for a Geospatial Story Map

1. Title & Introduction

• Title: Retired Senior Home Location

• Subtitle: North District of Taichung, Taiwan

• Introduction: In 2025 Taiwan starts entering a hyper-senior age. About 25% of the population is over the age of 65. Thus, it is impelling to tackle of social welfare of the senior citizen after their retirement. One of them is the location of their living. This story map investigates a scenario of a retired couple who is planning to live in north district of Taichung, with a preference an intellectual and recreational environment and good medication hospital in mind. The process of locating the senior home can be applied to any location problems such as nursing home, grocery store, and recreation center etc.

2. Background & Context

• In convention, senior people in Taiwan stays with, or close to, their children for better care. However, since the evolution of rapid life style and long working hour it becomes challenge to keep the tradition. Plus, the senior who has been well trained in their profession can also manage their life without much are of their children. What they want is the independence of living style.

• Why is this important?

• Any key datasets or sources used.

3. Interactive Map Section 1: Location Overview

• Map Layer 1: Overview of North District of Taichung.

• Data Overlay: Major Landmarks and Business Districts in North District

• Accompanying Text:

  1. National Museum of Natural Science: It provides technology integration, living experiences, art, and a human-centered exhibition of a modern natural science museum.

  2. China Medical University Hospital Business District: It provides high-quality medication in key areas of human health.

  3. Yizhong Business District: It offers a variety of food courts, playgrounds, and entertainment facilities.

  4. Tianjin Road Clothing Business District: It offers numerous outlets for fashion clothing.

• Optional Media:

  1. Overview of Landmark Locations

2. National museum of natural science

3. China Medical University Hospital Business District

4. Yizhong Business District

5. Tianjin Road Clothing Business District

4. Interactive Map Section 2: Key Locations or Changes Over Time

• Map Layer 2: National museum of natural science

• Phase 1: Space Theater, Science Center

• Accompanying Text: The Space Theater was built in 1986. It features Taiwan’s first fully immersive IMAX large-scale domed theater and a nearly realistic starry sky projected by GOTO’s optical planetarium. It provides the Taiwanese public with a unique and groundbreaking scientific learning experience. Below is a picture of the Space Theater during a show.

• The Science Center was built in 1986. Its primary purpose is to encourage visitors to engage in hands-on activities and actively participate in learning. It aims to spark curiosity through hands-on experiences, provide scientific training through interactive activities, impart scientific knowledge through play, and uncover the mysteries of nature through exploration. By incorporating scientific, challenging, entertaining, and exploratory exhibits and activities, the Science Center fulfills its educational role as a museum. Below is an exhibit on semiconductors.
  

• Phase 2: Life Science Hall

• Accompanying Text: The Life Science Hall was built in 1988. This hall is themed around the mysteries of nature, featuring 13 exhibition areas that showcase various natural phenomena and the dynamics of evolution. From the origins of life, it vividly presents the rise, evolution, and adaptation of different life forms, as well as explores the human life cycle—birth, aging, illness, and death. Some life forms have even faced extinction in the course of evolution, offering profound insights that are worth deep reflection for us, the so-called most intelligent beings on Earth. Below is an exhibit of our human body.

• Phase 3: Human Culture Hall (formerly China Science Hall)

• Accompanying Text: The Human Culture Hall was built in 1993. This area is themed around world cultures, China's scientific civilization, and Oceania, covering seven key topics: Chinese medicine, Chinese science and technology, agricultural ecology, ancient storytelling, the spiritual life of the Han people, Taiwan's Austronesian peoples, and Oceania.

The exhibition presents a diverse range of content, including the evolution and influence of Chinese medicine, the inventions and applications of Chinese astronomy, geography, and craftsmanship, as well as how different climates and soils around the world have shaped various agricultural practices. It also explores China's unique geographical and cultural influences on its worldview, philosophy of life, and social perspectives, along with detailed insights into the cultural connections between Taiwan’s Austronesian peoples and Oceania.

Here, visitors can witness the wisdom and innovations of our ancestors while gaining a deeper understanding of the evolution of human civilization. Below is an exhibit of the Qin Dynasty Terracotta Warriors.

• Phase 4: Earth Environment Hall

• Accompanying Text: The Earth Environment Hall was built in 1993. The Earth Environment Hall, in addition to its 3D theater, features various exhibition themes, including the microscopic world, diverse life forms, Taiwan’s natural ecology, and remote astronomical observations of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It also includes a theater classroom covering topics such as human interaction with the environment and species conservation.

In 2008, the hall introduced the Science On a Sphere (SOS) display system, which uses a 173 cm-diameter spherical screen to present dynamic visualizations of the Earth. Below is an exhibit of the wild life.

5. Interactive Map Section 3: Analysis & Insights

• Map Layer 3: Location Search

• Data Insights: Using the vector buffers of the National Museum of Natural Science and China Medical University Hospital Business District, we can create an area map of these two buffers. The buffer is constructed based on a 1,000-meter radius from the boundaries of the two landmarks.

Next, we use proportional symbols to represent the home prices of 229 sales recorded in the Ministry of the Interior's sales data from September 2023 to September 2024 in Taiwan. This allows us to identify the locations of these homes.

By intersecting three criteria—the vector buffer of the museum, the vector buffer of the hospital, and the proportional symbols representing home prices—we can determine suitable areas for retired seniors. The results are shown below, with yellow spots indicating the recommended locations.

• Narrative Connection: There are 45 home locations that meet our requirements. After downloading the attribute table of the intersection, we were able to identify these locations, as shown below. The table includes both Chinese and English addresses.

From the table, it is clear that we should first focus on locations in:

1. Yingcai Road, Lanes 102 to 157

2. Meide Street, Lanes 85 to 381

3. Jianxing Road, No. 656 to 906

6. Conclusion & Call to Action

• We used historical data from September 2023 to September 2024 to identify recommended areas for senior home locations. A total of 45 locations were identified, primarily concentrated on:

  1. Yingcai Road, Lanes 102 to 157

  2. Meide Street, Lanes 85 to 381

  3. Jianxing Road, No. 656 to 906

• In the future, if a senior wants to find a retirement residence in the North District of Taichung, they can simply refer to these three addresses when searching for a house or apartment.